We got featured on AOL City’s Best Orlando! So cool!  Many thanks to Eyal Goldshmid for the interview and for the awesome write up! Thank you for the opportunity!

“Q&A With Orlando Food Blogger MegaYummo” by Eyal Goldshmid

I told Al about my little lunch adventure to Treehouse Truck and he became a bit more curious and suggested going to the Taste & Sounds event at Club Firestone Live. The Food Pod is at Firestone Live’s parking lot, it  is a bunch of food trucks coming together and selling their food to anyone who wants to try them out. It is a free event that happens every Wednesday from 6PM-11PM and sometimes to midnight.

It is pretty chill event and it almost reminds me of going to a festival or fair except there aren’t any weird carnies around or cheesy carnival games. There was live music and good food which is all you really need to fulfill your Wednesday night cravings!

We arrived to Treehouse Truck and this time for sure, we were going to do the Luther and their ChiMoo!

Let’s do a little Q&A…

Question: What is a Luther?

Answer: Bacon Cheeseburger in 2 Krispy Kreme Donuts

Question: What is a Chimoo?

Answer: Marinated Steak, Chicken, Slaw, Sweet Potato Fries topped with Mango BBQ Sauce all in a Whole Puerto Rican Bread.

& now back to the blog…

I just know that we both woke early that morning and ran a couple of miles just so that we can consume these 2 signature sandwiches.

Al and I have been curious about this Luther for awhile now and this was our moment.

We did it once and probably won’t do it again. It was intense! It was good but neither Al nor I could eat an entire Luther. Krispy Kreme donuts are rich especially with all the sugar glaze. This burger is one those where you have to roll up your sleeves and just eat it. Be sure to carry a handful of napkins because you are going to need it for this bad boy.

The cheese burger patty has cinnamon so it compliments the sweet donut but it was all too rich for us. All I can say is that it is worth trying and now we can live to tell the tale!

As for the “Chimoo,” this is a great sandwich but too much bread for me. This sandwich is really filling! So Beware of getting sleepy after consuming the Chimoo! This is a very tasty and very unique. I like the seasoning in their steak and those surprise crunches from the sweet potato fries. Next time I get this sandwich, I am going to ask them for half bread instead of a whole one.

After trying both sandwiches, Al and I were experiencing strong signs of food comas…there are some serious eats at Treehouse Truck so go check them out and see what all the fuss is about.

Oh, FYI, if you are not willing to wait more than 10 minutes for your food don’t go there but if you are willing and appreciate that your food is made fresh to order then I suggest that you go give them a taste!

Did you know that you can try them out for lunch? Check it out!

If you want to find out more about other trucks, check out these awesome sites for insight on where to locate these moving targets.

EatLocalOrlando.com

Droolius.com

I found this place based on doing some searches on the web about Memphis. I stumbled up this blog, http://ilovememphisblog.com, and she writes up about everything that moves in Memphis! She recommended this place and noticed the high ratings on Urbanspoon and of course, I had to go check it out!

I am so in love with doughnuts! They are my weakness and going this place was going to be such a treat for me!

I ask the girl at the counter to recommend their most popular donuts because I was not going to hold up the line with me starring at the many varieties of donuts. I ended up buying half a dozen for all under $4. What a deal!

I ended up getting the Old Fashion Glazed Donuts, Cruller, New Orleans Buttermilk Donut, Crumb Cake Donut, Bavarian Cream Filled Donut, and last but not least…. SUGAR GLAZED!—my all time favorite kind of doughnut!

Don’t you dare think that I was going to eat all of that alone; I ended up sampling a piece of everything but eating the whole entire sugar glazed donuts. Melt in your mouth! So Mega Yummo!

This little shop is cozy and nostalgic décor with hints of University of Memphis paraphernalia in random spots of the store. I did see a group of senior citizens hanging out at the table people watching, reading the paper while enjoying their cup of coffee. And then there are the families coming in for their sugar fix and picking up dozens to go.

I didn’t realize that this shop is open 24 hours but that is good to know for next time when I am here in Memphis again.

What is the Difference Between an Arepa and a Cachapa?

Arepas are made with ground corn flour, mixed into a thick dough and can be either baked, grilled or fried into a round shape that most resembles an english muffin; while the cachapas are made from fresh ground sweet corn, mixed into a think batter and cooked into a round pancake.

I like both types but we decided to go with an areapa. We got the pork with cheese arepa ($5.00). They prepare all their sandwiches fresh. Plus, they were quick! We had them cut it in half so that we can split with Ricky Ly of Tastychomps.com.

Here is what I noticed:

Their arepas are fairly big. –I would have to guess that it is about 6″ in diameter.
It was seriously stuffed to the max with generous portions of pork and topped with tons of white cheese.
They come piping HOT! –So be careful taking your first bite!

Sliced Pork with Cheese Arepa

How Did it Taste?

Well, it would have tasted better if the cheese wasn’t so salty. Because they topped it with lots of cheese, it was all I could taste was the salty flavors of the white cheese. Although, I did, eventually, locate the pork and it was a very well seasoned and flavorful balance but was masked by the cheese. Perhaps they could rinse off the cheese brine before assembling the sandwiches.

I will have to try out their cachapa next time. It will be interesting to see how they come!

Mama’s Fixins Soulfood & BBQ Food Truck made their big debut at The Daily City’s Food Truck Bazaar at the Oviedo Marketplace Mall on June 12, 2011

It was Oviedo’s first food truck bazaar and Mama’s Fixins’ was going to make their first debut to the people of Oviedo. Tastychomps.com and I were curious about their offerings. We asked them to recommend something and one of the staff said that she grew up eating her Aunt’s cooking and loves the oxtail. I have never had Oxtail before so I was going to give it a try.

She put in an order for the Savory Oxtail which came with a choice of 2 sides.

I picked collard greens and mac & cheese. I was not too impress with the collard greens or with the mac & cheese. Although, I do have to note that the mac & cheese did have a little bit of a kick to it. I like the Oxtails but this was not an easy thing to eat sitting on the ground. This requires sitting at table with good amount of elbow space. I mean you need the extra elbow room to put up your arms and get into those bones. The meat is really tender, succulent and messy. If you get this meal you better have a table to sit at!

Tastychomps.com got which came a choice of 2 sides.

His meal was much tastier than mine. The ribs were really good! I am not a barbecue fan but these ribs could easily convert me to be a barbecue lover! It was tender and the ribs were not drowning in sauce! It was a the right amount of sauce with the right amont of seasoning. I love it!

He also got a side order of their Peach Cobbler

The peach cobbler was just ok. Al found it to be too mushy and bland and nothing really memorable about their cobbler.

Overall experience was pleasant but there were some things from Mama’s Fixins that did not really stand out to us. The only thing that I really enjoyed was their BBQ ribs. Maybe next time I will give their fried chicken a try!

Shin Japanese Cuisine is regarded as one of the best sushi restaurants in Orlando. We’ve had several friends recommend Shin, but it wasn’t until recently that we had a chance to go try it for ourselves.

Shin is located on the first floor of one of the newest residential downtown buildings on the corner of Park and Orange. Their dining room has a very opened feel and ample room to accommodate the dining crowed. Their lunch menu is composed of sushi rolls, sashimi, appetizers, typical Japanese dishes and various lunch specials including the popular Bento Box, except that they call it The Shin Lunch Set.

“The Shin Lunch Set, Red Tuna & Escolar Sashimi, California Roll, Shrimp & Vegetable Tempura, Salmon Teriyaki, with White Koshi Hikari Rice”

I ordered The Shin Lunch Set which is made up of red tuna and escolar sashimi, California roll, shrimp and vegetable tempura, salmon teriyaki, with white Koshi Hikari rice, an excellent deal for $14 or $13 without the rice. Pearleen ordered Shin’s Sushi Silver which is a California roll paired with 7 pieces of the freshest nigiri, also a great deal for $13. Both items came with miso soup, sunomono, and a side salad.

“Shin’s Sushi Silver, California Roll Paired with 7 Pieces of the Freshest Nigiri”

Our salad, soup and sunomono arrived within a couple of minutes of ordering and our meals arrived shortly after we finished our salads and soups. I was very impressed with the amount and especially the quality of the food. The fish in the sushi was very fresh, the tempura was nice and crispy and not greasy. I don’t like it when the tempura is dripping in grease. One of the most notable things about my meal was that the California roll was made with a crab mix, rather than the usual fake crab meat, giving the California roll a most unique and rich flavor.

Pearleen was pretty jealous of my choice. She said that it was super-sized bento box although it technically did not come in a bento box. She really likes the fact that there was more more variety in my meal in comparison to hers. She enjoyed her meal very much but she liked my choice better. She pretty much devoured most of my Salmon Teriyaki. –that’s just what happens when you are married…

Salmon Teriyaki in the Shin Lunch Set

We had a great experience at Shin’s. The food quality and service were outstanding and at a great value for lunch. We’re looking forward to returning for dinner and we will have to see how it owns up to the reputation of being the best sushi restaurants in Orlando.

Mobile Deli serves non-traditional, Koran food. What I mean by this is that they serve items such as tacos, quesadillas, Cuban sandwiches, but all with Korean BBQ style meats resulting in a very interesting fusion.

Their menu can be broken down into 4 main sections, Tacos, Quesadillas, Sandwiches and Sides. Their taco can come either wrapped in corn tortilla, flour tortilla or lettuce and can be filled with either slow roasted pork, steak bulgogi, chicken bulgogi, or pork bulgogi. The sandwich choices are Roast Pork, Cubano, Mahi Roll or Korean Cheese Steak all comes with a twist.

I decided to order two Tacos wrapped in lettuce, or lettuce wraps, one filled with chicken bulgogi and the other with pork bulgogi.

After placing my order, I received a playing card, 7 of hearts, and was told I would see the matching card hung on the next window once my order was ready. I must say, that is an interesting system! It actually reduced the amount of people crowding around the window because the cards were visible from a ways away making it easy to walk up and grab your order once your card was up. Pretty clever on their part.

My order was ready in about 4-5 minutes, which is pretty fast considering they’re cooking everything to order. Both meats were well seasoned and combined with lettuce, very light and enjoyable. Although, I would like to see them add a few more garnishing on top of the bulgogi like a pickled shredded daikon or carrots.

I enjoyed the lettuce wraps at the Mobile Deli. I am looking forward to going back to try some of their other offerings, such as the Cubano and Mahi Roll sandwiches.

My co-workers and I really like to go there for lunch. They have great lunch specials with offerings of a choice of soup or salad with you lunch entree. Lunch for under 10 bucks, including tip, is looking pretty good on the wallet. We like to get their Beef Noodle Soups, Spicy Angry Chicken, or the Drunken Noodles. But the last time we were there, they were featuring some new items for their menu. They offered Malaysian Curry Laksa Noodle Soup, Jicama Salad with Taramind Dressing, and Fried Eggplant with Thai Spices. My friends and I ordered the Malaysian Curry Laksa Noodle Soup and I ordered the Fried Eggplant for the table to share.

Jicama Salad with Taramind Dressing

The fried eggplant is fried Japanese Eggplant with a little sprinkle of salt and topped with Shredded Dried Pork. All simple ingredients but the taste is surprisingly unique. I am officially addicted and highly recommend you give this dish a try!

Fried Eggplant with Thai Spices

The Malaysian Curry Laksa Noodle Soup comes in a large bowl with a coconut based curry soup broth. The Malaysian Curry is less mild than you would expect from Thai/Indian Curry but carries it own strength in the coconut soup broth. It comes with rice vermicilli, bean sprouts, green onions, shrimp and chicken. Super Tasty and very Mega Yummo!

The Malaysian Curry Laksa Noodle Soup

I got there right before noon and there was already someone there inquiring about the menu. Mike Freas, head chef, comes up with new and different sandwiches for the week so he recommended something with “Bacon Jam.”

Bacon Jam? Whatever the heck that is, I want it!

I initially had the thought to go there and try their Luther and their Chimoo but I did not want to miss out on their new items for the week. I was trying their new LT Burger and their Tonkatsu Pork Sando for lunch.

“The Burger LT,  Half pound of Angus Beef, Slow Roasted Bacon Jam, Blue Cheese, Arugula & Tomatos”

@MikoChu, thanks for modeling your Burger LT

This burger is a guilty pleasure! It’s like you know you should not be eating 2 patties for lunch but you just have to because otherwise what else are you going to do with it? I was expecting a strong bacon taste from the bacon jam but it was more subtle and was a nice compliment to the bitter taste of arugula and blue cheese crumbles. It was a bit on the greasy side for me but I can understand the circumstances of trying to crank these bad boys out for starving customers! –I wonder what that burger would taste like with potato sticks….

“Tonkatsu Sando , Pork Tenderloin breaded in Japanese Bread Crumbs with Carrots, Cabbage, Cucumbers served open face topped with Tonkatsu Sauce”

I like them both but if I had to choose, I would go with Tonkatsu Pork Sando because the flavors was much more unique and memorable while the Burger LT is delicious, the Tonkatsu’s flavors would be a very hard-to-find in other foods from other places. I would like to see the Tonkatsu pork, sliced up placed over top a bed of lettuce with the slaw or wrapped in green spinach wrap!

Luckily, I brought reinforcements for the job of destroying both sandwiches for lunch; because otherwise, it was just humanly impossible for me to eat both sandwiches and be functional at work!

Thanks James for helping me eat.

Al was pretty jealous after he saw what I ate on Foodspotting so then he suggested that we go check them tomorrow at the Food Pod at Firestone Live.

If you want to find out more about other trucks, check out these awesome sites for insight on where to locate these moving targets.

EatLocalOrlando.com

Droolius.com